There's a big problem with Xbox live.

[Kal-El]

Well as almost everyone knows, I got my account cancelled because of a mistake by Xbox Live customer service.

I was signing up a new gamertag (GT) on Xbox.com because I do plan on getting a 360 eventually (donations are welcome hahaha). In the process of trying to sign up a new GT I noticed a huge problem.

After an account is closed, the gamertag can NEVER be used again. With all the people who've played on Xbox live without ever paying a dime by using 2 month trials and now the ability to sign up free accounts, this is a huge problem. It's getting increasingly hard to get a gamertag without it being "J0hn Do3 5424524585121424452514552452255624861254".

You can look up people's gamertags on Xbox.com and by looking at their profile see how long it hasn't been used. I tried to sign up with maybe 100 gamertags and they were all taken. I checked the profile, and the last time they were on extended as far as two years for some of them. It's rediculous. The gamertag hasn't been used in 2 years! Why can't I use it?

6 months after the account has been terminated the Gamertag should be made available again. That amount of time is more than enough for people to have noticed the tag isn't used anymore and take it off their lists and forget about it.

[H2o sLacK]

im sure theres other names you can get

[Kal-El]

im sure theres other names you can get

I'm sure there are, but my point is there's no reason I shouldn't be able to get the Gamertag I want because it was used 2 years ago by someone using 2 month trials to avoid having to pay.

Heck, being a customer for 3 years I should be able to provide all the information on the account and get it back.

[edx]

After 8 months - year they should get reset. I would really like "edx" without the stupid "ii"s in front and behind it.

[H2o sLacK]

I'm sure there are, but my point is there's no reason I shouldn't be able to get the Gamertag I want because it was used 2 years ago by someone using 2 month trials to avoid having to pay.


true, it is pretty lame. but they got the name fisrt so i guess that sucks. theres plenty of names that i could get. so i just thought of one that no one had. idk, now that i think about it, it angers me too

[Kal-El]

true, it is pretty lame. but they got the name fisrt so i guess that sucks. theres plenty of names that i could get. so i just thought of one that no one had. idk, now that i think about it, it angers me too

There are lots of names I could take, but I don't like "1337ing" things up.

There are people who work for Xbox and microsoft around these forums. They should bring it up at the next meeting or something. I'd even let them take credit for the idea.

[MoB Adorable]

well I hope you get your account back. I want to buy another account but I really don't see any use for it if I never really play anymore.

[H2o sLacK]

the idea has been brought up numerous amounts of times. but credit cards are linked to the gamertag. and the ability to account recover is the main reason why you can take an old name that no one is going to use. Like AYB Fonzi. he wasnt on that account forever. then he decided to get it back for some reason. how would you feel if your gamertag was like perfect. and you quit xbox live. and 2 years later, you wanted it back. wouldnt it suck if you couldnt have it back because someone used it already. idk....im just seeing a different picture

[Kal-El]

the idea has been brought up numerous amounts of times. but credit cards are linked to the gamertag. and the ability to account recover is the main reason why you can take an old name that no one is going to use. Like AYB Fonzi. he wasnt on that account forever. then he decided to get it back for some reason. how would you feel if your gamertag was like perfect. and you quit xbox live. and 2 years later, you wanted it back. wouldnt it suck if you couldnt have it back because someone used it already. idk....im just seeing a different picture

After two months even HE can't get it back. If he could, so could I. We wouldn't be having this conversation if that were true.

After you cancel it you have two months from the 1st of the month to get it back, after that it's gone forever. That's where my problem came from. The person I talked to didn't tell me it was from the first. I cancelled my account on the 15th and she confirmed I'd have till the 15th two months later to get it back. I tried to get it back on the 2nd and it was gone.

[Look Its a Panda]

I agree with you. The way things are today, it's impossible to recover a lot of gamertags, I think they should delete all accounts that haven't been used for a year. or six months as you suggested. There are a lot of free/2 month accounts floating around there, and it's making it harder and harder for people to create proper tags, which is why we're seeing tags like xXx name xXx etc.

I hope that Microsoft will change their policy regarding unused tags, and the fact that they won't even let your recover your own tag is just ridiculous.

[Rambo Rachel]

Yeah, I think they should renew them somehow, but then if someone picks a name with a bad rep, they get all the crap that was seeded into that name before them...for example, if they got banned or something else to that effect.

But yeah, I agree.

[e]

After an account is closed, the gamertag can NEVER be used again.

It'd be more accurate to state that at the current time, a gamertag that was previously in use cannot be reusued.

We've stated before that this is something that we want to change, but it isn't as simple as you might think - otherwise we would've done it a long time ago.

- e

[Rambo Rachel]

It'd be more accurate to state that at the current time, a gamertag that was previously in use cannot be reusued.

We've stated before that this is something that we want to change, but it isn't as simple as you might think - otherwise we would've done it a long time ago.

- e

True...

[Look Its a Panda]

It'd be more accurate to state that at the current time, a gamertag that was previously in use cannot be reusued.

We've stated before that this is something that we want to change, but it isn't as simple as you might think - otherwise we would've done it a long time ago.

- ePreviously in use? Does this mean canceled accounts, or accounts that have not been logged into for {amount of time}? Is it possible to lose an account by accident?

[EDIT: I've got a friend who's got an old gamertag that he would like to recover, I think it was a 2 month free Live account from the old Xbox, and when he's trying to recover he's getting asked for his credit card number.
Only problem - he's got a new VISA, so he doesn't know the last 4 digits of his old one. Is there any way for him to recover this tag, or is it lost forever?
Of course, finding the 4 digits would just take 10000 takes (if you're unlucky), so if he's really dedicated he might get it ;)]

[e]

Previously in use? Does this mean canceled accounts, or accounts that have not been logged into for {amount of time}? Is it possible to lose an account by accident?

We'd never take an active account away from someone to give it to someone else - that wouldn't make any sense. I'm referring to canceled accounts.



he doesn't know the last 4 digits of his old one. Is there any way for him to recover this tag, or is it lost forever?

If he doesn't know the last 4 digits of the old card he needs to call Customer Service - 1-800-4MY-XBOX in the US and Canada.

Whether or not he'll be able to get the tag back depends on the current state of it. If it's still active - i.e., has a valid subscription - then yes. Otherwise, it depends on how long it's been since the billing status of the account was current.

[Look Its a Panda]

Whether or not he'll be able to get the tag back depends on the current state of it. If it's still active - i.e., has a valid subscription - then yes. Otherwise, it depends on how long it's been since the billing status of the account was current.It's been between 6 to 12 months, last time he called the Swedish support (around the launch of the 360 I think) they said it wasn't doable. Do you know if the tag have been inactive too long, or should it be possible to recover the tag?

[e]

It's been between 6 to 12 months, last time he called the Swedish support (around the launch of the 360 I think) they said it wasn't doable. Do you know if the tag have been inactive too long, or should it be possible to recover the tag?

That account can't be reinstated at this time, sorry. The limit is either (I can't remember for sure) 60 or 90 days.

Of course, with Xbox 360 you can move your account from Gold to Silver and keep your friends list, gamerscore, etc. Unfortunately that doesn't do anything for our customers with Xbox 1-only accounts.

[Look Its a Panda]

That account can't be reinstated at this time, sorry. The limit is either (I can't remember for sure) 60 or 90 days.

Of course, with Xbox 360 you can move your account from Gold to Silver and keep your friends list, gamerscore, etc. Unfortunately that doesn't do anything for our customers with Xbox 1-only accounts.So you're saying that this tag is lost forever? I called the Swedish support, I got both the last 4 digits, the accurate name, phone number used (also an old one) as well as postal code - but I get the "Can't verify your original Xbox billing information. Please make sure you've entered it correctly."-message, so it seems he's pretty much f***ed.

How come Microsoft/Xbox Support can't reactivate the account on demand? Having a lot of frozen accounts that's useless would seem to be bad for all parties.

[Kal-El]

That account can't be reinstated at this time, sorry. The limit is either (I can't remember for sure) 60 or 90 days.

It's 2 months, but if you cancel it on the 15th of march, they start the 2 months from the 1st of march. That's why I lost my GT because they didn't tell me that. Instead they confirmed that I'd have until the 15th when I asked.

[Psycho]

I'm sorry dex but ive seen nothing but whining about the problems over xbox live from you for like a straight year now, ever think of playing something else?

[Kal-El]

I'm sorry dex but ive seen nothing but whining about the problems over xbox live from you for like a straight year now, ever think of playing something else?

:rolleyes: WTF are you talking about?

A person using 2 month trials to play for 3 years uses up 36 gamertags. I'm sure there are a million or more people abusing 2 month trials this way. That's 36 million (or more) gamertags taken that can't be used by new people signing up or people that need/want a new gamertag and are willing to pay for it. It's becomming a problem.

I wasn't whining. I was saying it's a problem and should be fixed. Others agree. If you don't know the difference between discussing an issue and whining, then stop reading my posts. That's why people can't have discussions around where. They always get flamed and accused of whining. Kthxbye.

[LadyLuck1]

I have to agree. Once that account is no longer in use, it should be available to others. Taking it off forever seems kind of extreme and ridiculous...

[Psycho]

Its not that I disagree, its just always the same thing over and over with you -_-

You lack more positive posts :p

[Kal-El]

Its not that I disagree, its just always the same thing over and over with you -_-

You lack more positive posts :p

I bring up issues to discuss.